Over the course of 2010, seven American and three Palestinian youth worked together to document the city of Nablus through photography and videos of the people, places and things that make it special. The following multimedia presentation is the final result of the Kalimatna project.

What a week! TYO has come out in Washington, and we did it with a splash! Check out some video and commentary at the links below – more coming soon… Here’s the TYO team onstage at the Gala last night with Bill Clinton, Quincy Jones, Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, event chairs Terry McAuliffe and Samia Farouki and TYO Founder Hani Masri!

Clinton was at DC’s Ritz Carlton to keynote along with former British first lady and Matrix Chambers legal firm legend Cherie Blair, chair and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a fundraising gala for a surprisingly successful NGO that works with young children and women in Palestine.

I had a great time last night at the “Tomorrow’s Youth Organization” gala at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC. Thanks to Terry McAuliffe and Levar Stoney for the invitation. Highlights included meeting Cherie Blair and finally getting to shake Bill Clinton’s hand. [See link for author’s video and photos]

Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, an NGO whose mission is to empower women and children of Palestine, hosted former US President Bill Clinton on Thursday. The event took place in Washington, DC and keynote speakers included former British first lady and Matrix Chambers legal firm legend Cherie Blair, chair and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

Last night I had the honor of DJing the first annual Tomorrow’s Youth Organization Gala at the Ritz Carlton. It was an amazing event for an amazing organization. Honored guests included Pres. Bill Clinton, Quincy Jones and Cherie Blair (wife of Former PM Tony Blair).

The ballroom at The Ritz -Carlton was filled to capacity last night when co-chairs Terry McAuliffe and Samia Farouki hosted a gala for the first time to benefit Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, a group whose mission is to work in disadvantaged areas of the Middle East to help children, teens and their parents build strong, responsible communities. TYO is the brainchild of Hani Masri who founded the organization in 2007 with a vision and a mission to improve the lives of those suffering from poverty and violence.

TYO is thrilled to be featured in Palestine Note CEO Fadi Elsalameen’s recent column on The Huffington Post, “Smart Power: Hollywood goes to the West Bank.” We are indeed very proud to contribute to the smart power that Elsalameen cites, including providing children and youth in Nablus with enriching and innovative summer programming and activities.

Why would an American youth who grew up in Hollywood, worked there as an assistant director on TV shows, a graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International studies want to live and work in the West Bank city of Nablus?

It’s the same reason anyone would want to live and work anywhere else in the world: the opportunity and the reward.

Last weekend my class played several question games to build on our activities focusing on observing the world through the five senses. To put all the question brainstorming to work we invited TYO staff member, Imad, to a “press conference,” which you can watch below!

Duha: What’s your name?

Imad: My name is Imad Mansour.

Ibrahim: How are you?

Imad: Thanks be to God, very good.

Mohammed H: How old are you?

Imad: 26, minus a little.

Ayasar: Where do you live?

Imad: I live in al-Dhahiyya, in Nablus.

Rihanna: What do you do?

Imad: I am the volunteer coordinator at Tomorrow’s Youth Organization.

Labeeba: When do you go to work in the morning?

Imad: 8 o’clock in the morning.

Mohammed A: How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Imad: 5 brothers, 1 sister.

Yazan: Are you married?

Imad: Engaged!

[Congratulations from the room]

Said: Who’s the most important person in your life?

Imad: Thukan Fishawi in Ramallah.

Shams: What’s your favorite meal?

Imad: Stuffed Grape leaves.

-Kara

Kara is an intern at TYO Nablus and a participant in the Kalimatna Initiative.

During the past summer, the New York chapter of Students of the World filmed TYO’s summer programs in action. The result of their work is the video below, which was screened at the Clinton Global Initiative in September for hundreds of influential donors, practitioners and policy makers from various sectors of work globally.

We are grateful to Students of the World, as well as the Public Affairs Office at the US Consulate in Jerusalem for their support of this project through their Small Grant Program.